Closure for collapsible tubes.



A. c. BOOTH.

CL 0SURE FOR COLLAPSIBLE TUBES.

-APPLICATION FILED APR 14, 1916.

Alba/4600f;

@lttouwna eoaeei.

' UNITED STATES PATENT omuon.

' arm. 0. acorn, or BURLINGTON, vnnmon'r.

' cnosrmn ron COLLAPSIJBLE TUBES.

Specification of Letters Patent. I Patented Nov, 28, 1916.

Application filed April 14, 1916. Serial No. 91,156.

To all'tvkom it may concern Be it known that I, ALBA C. BOOTH, a citizen of the United States, residing aft Burlington, in the county of Chittenden and State of Vermont, have .invented new and useful Improvements in Closures for Collapsible Tubes, of which the following is a specification. I

This invention relates to improvements in receeptacles of that kind commonly known as collapsible tubes, and employed for holdmg various kinds of'dentifrices, toilet substances, of a liquid, semi-liquid or pasty consistency, and which are expelled by.collapsing or compress'ingthe body of the tube.

-The use of receptacles of this character is open to several objections, among them the tendency to feed an excess amount of the material through the discharge outlet, which settlement of 'on'the outside excess amount of material-collects about the outlet and upon .the top of the receptacle, making the receptacle unsightly as-well as unsanitary, owing to thecolleection by the material of dirt and germs. Another objection to dispensing tubes of this character is that the top of the tube is exposed to the I dust and dirt, thus contributm to the. unsanitary collection of foreign su stances and admixture of the same with the ejected recess material, time rendering it diflicult to keep the receptacle clean. a

One object of my invention is to provide a collapsible dispensing tube having a novel construction of means automatically operati ve at the end of the expressing action, in discharging a portion of the material, back mto the tube,-thus preventing its collection of the tube and waste and other objections above specified.

e invention consists of the features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described and claimed, reference being'had 'to the accompanymg drawing in ,whicl1:--

F1 e 1 is a sectional elevation of a collapsi le dispensing-tube embodying my in- .mal position. Fig.

y view similar to Fig. 1

vention, showing the suction device in norand at the same collapsible tube of the character described, which is provided at one end with the usual tubular outlet 2, externally threaded to receive a closure cap 3, with which maybe -employed a. sealing disk 4. In practice, the tube is filled through its opposite end, which is normally open, and is folded or rolled upon itself, to form a closure at that end in the usual manner, and the material is discharged by folding or rolling the said folded or' rolled end uponthe body of the tube, by compressing the tube between the thumb and fingers of the hand, or by-using an expressing device of suitable construction.

I Within the tube is disposed a suction or vacuum producing device shown in the form of a. dome-shaped or cup shaped body 4 of rubber or other elastic material. This cupshaped body has its open side facing the top of the tube and provided with a thickened rim edge 5 to bear against the top of vacuum chamber. At itsfcenter the dia-' phragm cup isprovided with an outlet in Y the form of a slit 6 which is normally closed by the elasticity of the material when the parts of the diaphragm are in. normal position as shown in Fig. 1. In expelling-the material the pressure of such material on the bottom of the diaphragm, causes such portion of the diaphragm to be elevated or forced into the cup toward the outlet, thus expanding the slit 6 to form a circular openin for the outward passage of the-material. en the pressure upon the diaphragm is removed, the deflected portion thereof will return to normal position by its own elasticity, thus producing a suction or artial vacuum in the vacuum chamber w ereby the excess material discharged will be back into the tube in an obvious manner. The form of elastic cup shown in'Figs. 1 I and 2 may be used where the material stored and dispensed is comparatively light in weight and of a more or lessreadily flowing character, but for heavier and denser fluids, and thus having some material degree of viscosity, '1 may employ in conjunction with the cup a spring 7, as shown in which will return the cup positively actuation.

I claim v 1. A collapsible tube having an outlet, and an inverted dome-shaped resilient body arto normal position after drawn' ranged within the tube and having a central opening in its bottom portion for the passage of the material, the said bottom portion of the body provided with the opening being flexible in both directions from a normal position. Y

2. A collapsible tube having an outlet, a diaphragm arranged within said tube and comprising an inverted dome-shaped body of resilient material having its bottom por tion provided with a central'opening, said bottom portion of the body being flexible in both directions from a normal position, and a spring acting upon the central portion of the body for limiting its opening movement 5 

